isolated-agent-creator

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Create isolated OpenClaw agents with separate workspaces, bound to specific Telegram groups or channels. Use when setting up a specialized agent (e.g., Bible study, work assistant) that should respond in a dedicated chat.

eliranwong By eliranwong schedule Updated 2/14/2026
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name: isolated-agent-creator description: Create isolated OpenClaw agents with separate workspaces, bound to specific Telegram groups or channels. Use when setting up a specialized agent (e.g., Bible study, work assistant) that should respond in a dedicated chat. metadata: {"openclaw":{"emoji":"🤖"}}

Isolated Agent Creator

Create fully isolated OpenClaw agents with their own workspace, sessions, and channel bindings.

When to Use

  • User wants a specialized agent for a specific purpose (e.g., Bible study, coding, family chat)
  • User wants to bind a Telegram group to a different agent personality
  • User needs separate conversation history from the main agent

Prerequisites

  • OpenClaw gateway running
  • Access to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
  • Main agent's auth files (to copy credentials)

Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Create the Agent

openclaw agents add <agent-id> \
  --workspace ~/.openclaw/workspaces/<agent-id> \
  --model anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5 \
  --non-interactive

Note: Do NOT use --bind flag — it creates incorrect bindings. We'll add bindings manually.

Step 2: Create Agent Directory Structure

The CLI doesn't always create all required directories:

mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>/agent
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>/sessions

Step 3: Copy Auth Credentials

Copy API keys and model configs from the main agent:

cp ~/.openclaw/agents/main/agent/auth-profiles.json ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>/agent/
cp ~/.openclaw/agents/main/agent/models.json ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>/agent/

Step 4: Set Correct Permissions

Match main agent's permissions:

chmod 700 ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>
chmod 700 ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>/agent
chmod 700 ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>/sessions

Step 5: Initialize Sessions

Create empty sessions.json:

echo '{}' > ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>/sessions/sessions.json

Step 6: Create Workspace Files

Create these files in ~/.openclaw/workspaces/<agent-id>/:

IDENTITY.md

# IDENTITY.md - Who Am I?

- **Name:** <Agent Name>
- **Creature:** AI <Specialty> Assistant
- **Vibe:** <personality traits>
- **Emoji:** <emoji>

SOUL.md

# SOUL.md - Who You Are

_You are <Name>. A dedicated <purpose> assistant._

## Core Identity
[Describe the agent's purpose and specialization]

## Core Truths
[Key behavioral guidelines]

## Approach
[How the agent should handle requests]

## Boundaries
[What's in/out of scope]

USER.md

# USER.md - About Your Human

- **Name:** <user name>
- **Timezone:** <timezone>
- **Notes:** <relevant context>

AGENTS.md

# AGENTS.md - <Agent Name> Workspace

[Workflow instructions for this specialized agent]

Step 7: Add Skills (If Applicable)

If the agent needs specific skills that exist in ~/.openclaw/skills/, copy them to the workspace. Skip this step if no relevant skills exist.

# Only if a relevant skill exists:
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/workspaces/<agent-id>/skills
cp -r ~/.openclaw/skills/<skill-name> ~/.openclaw/workspaces/<agent-id>/skills/

Note: Most agents work fine without custom skills. Only copy skills if:

  • A specialized skill exists for the agent's purpose (e.g., bible-study for a Bible agent)
  • You want agent-specific skill behavior separate from the main agent

Step 8: Update openclaw.json Config

Edit ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json to add/fix the agent config:

Agent Entry (under agents.list)

{
  "id": "<agent-id>",
  "name": "<Agent Display Name>",
  "workspace": "/home/<user>/.openclaw/workspaces/<agent-id>",
  "agentDir": "/home/<user>/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>/agent",
  "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5"
}

⚠️ CRITICAL: Do NOT add a sessionsDir field to the agent config. Adding sessionsDir will cause the gateway to fail to start. OpenClaw infers the sessions directory automatically from agentDir.

Binding Entry (under bindings)

For Telegram group binding:

{
  "agentId": "<agent-id>",
  "match": {
    "channel": "telegram",
    "peer": {
      "kind": "group",
      "id": "<group-id>"
    }
  }
}

For Telegram DM binding:

{
  "agentId": "<agent-id>",
  "match": {
    "channel": "telegram",
    "peer": {
      "kind": "direct",
      "id": "<user-id>"
    }
  }
}

⚠️ CRITICAL: Use peer.kind and peer.id — NOT accountId. Using accountId for group IDs will fail silently.

Telegram Group Allowlist (under channels.telegram.groups)

"groups": {
  "<group-id>": {
    "requireMention": false
  }
}

Step 9: Restart Gateway

systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway

Or if using CLI:

openclaw gateway restart

Step 10: Verify

openclaw agents list --bindings

Should show the agent with correct routing rules.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Wrong: Adding sessionsDir to agent config

{
  "id": "my-agent",
  "agentDir": "/home/user/.openclaw/agents/my-agent/agent",
  "workspace": "/home/user/.openclaw/workspaces/my-agent",
  "sessionsDir": "/home/user/.openclaw/agents/my-agent/sessions"  // WRONG! This breaks startup!
}

✅ Correct: Omit sessionsDir (it's inferred automatically)

{
  "id": "my-agent",
  "name": "My Agent",
  "agentDir": "/home/user/.openclaw/agents/my-agent/agent",
  "workspace": "/home/user/.openclaw/workspaces/my-agent",
  "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5"
}

❌ Wrong: Using accountId for group binding

{
  "match": {
    "channel": "telegram",
    "accountId": "-5468435478"  // WRONG!
  }
}

✅ Correct: Using peer object

{
  "match": {
    "channel": "telegram",
    "peer": {
      "kind": "group",
      "id": "-5468435478"
    }
  }
}

❌ Wrong: Using --bind flag with group ID

openclaw agents add myagent --bind "telegram:-5468435478"
# Creates incorrect accountId binding

✅ Correct: Add binding manually in config

Add the proper peer-based binding to openclaw.json after creating the agent.

Troubleshooting

Gateway fails to start after adding agent

Cause: You added sessionsDir to the agent config.

Fix: Remove the sessionsDir field from the agent entry in openclaw.json. OpenClaw infers the sessions directory automatically.

Agent not responding in group

Check:

  1. Group is in channels.telegram.groups allowlist
  2. Binding uses peer.kind and peer.id (not accountId)
  3. Bot has message access in the Telegram group
  4. Gateway was restarted after config changes

Auth errors

Cause: Missing or invalid auth-profiles.json.

Fix: Copy from main agent:

cp ~/.openclaw/agents/main/agent/auth-profiles.json ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>/agent/

Stale session references

Cause: sessions.json references non-existent .jsonl files.

Fix: Reset sessions:

echo '{}' > ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>/sessions/sessions.json

Complete Example: Bible Study Agent

# 1. Create agent (without --bind)
openclaw agents add bible-study \
  --workspace ~/.openclaw/workspaces/bible-study \
  --model anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5 \
  --non-interactive

# 2. Create directories
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/agents/bible-study/agent
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/agents/bible-study/sessions

# 3. Copy auth
cp ~/.openclaw/agents/main/agent/auth-profiles.json ~/.openclaw/agents/bible-study/agent/
cp ~/.openclaw/agents/main/agent/models.json ~/.openclaw/agents/bible-study/agent/

# 4. Set permissions
chmod 700 ~/.openclaw/agents/bible-study
chmod 700 ~/.openclaw/agents/bible-study/agent
chmod 700 ~/.openclaw/agents/bible-study/sessions

# 5. Initialize sessions
echo '{}' > ~/.openclaw/agents/bible-study/sessions/sessions.json

# 6. Create workspace files (IDENTITY.md, SOUL.md, USER.md, AGENTS.md)
# [Use write tool to create these]

# 7. Copy skills (only if applicable)
# Skip if no relevant skill exists for this agent's purpose
# mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/workspaces/bible-study/skills
# cp -r ~/.openclaw/skills/bible-study ~/.openclaw/workspaces/bible-study/skills/

Then edit ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "agents": {
    "list": [
      {
        "id": "bible-study",
        "name": "BibleMate",
        "workspace": "/home/username/.openclaw/workspaces/bible-study",
        "agentDir": "/home/username/.openclaw/agents/bible-study/agent",
        "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5"
      }
    ]
  },
  "bindings": [
    {
      "agentId": "bible-study",
      "match": {
        "channel": "telegram",
        "peer": {
          "kind": "group",
          "id": "-5468435478"
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "groups": {
        "-5468435478": {
          "requireMention": false
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Finally:

systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway

Notes

  • All paths must be absolute (not relative or using ~)
  • Do NOT add sessionsDir to agent config — it will break startup
  • The main agent uses defaults and doesn't need explicit paths
  • Bindings are evaluated most-specific-first (peer > accountId > channel)
  • Skills in workspace skills/ folder override shared skills in ~/.openclaw/skills/
  • Each agent has its own conversation history (no cross-talk)
Install via CLI
npx skills add https://github.com/eliranwong/NvidiaJetsonOpenClaw --skill isolated-agent-creator
Repository Details
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